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FALCONER, WILLIAM, author of "The Shipwreck, a poem," was
born in Edinburgh about the year 1730. His father was a barber and
wig-maker, in a well-known street called the Netherbow, where he ultimately
became insolvent. A brother and sister of the tuneful Falconer—the only
individuals who stood in that relation to him—were born deaf and dumb; and
the latter, on account of her infirmities, was a constant inmate of the
royal infirmary of Edinburgh, some time after the beginning of the
present century. The father of the poet was a cousin-german of the Rev. Mr
Robertson, minister of the parish of Borthwick; so that this humble bard was
a very near relation of the author of the History of Scotland, and also of
lord Brougham and Vaux. Old Falconer being reduced to insolvency, was
enabled by his friends to open a grocer’s shop; but being deprived of his
wife, who was a prudent and active woman, his affairs once more became
deranged, and he terminated his life in extreme indigence.
The education of young
Falconer was of that humble kind which might have been expected from his
father’s circumstances. A teacher of the name of Webster gave him
instructions in reading, writing, and arithmetic. He used to say that this
was the whole amount of his school education. It appears that he possessed,
even in early youth, an ardour of genius, and a zeal in the acquisition of
knowledge, which in a great measure supplied his deficiences. In his poem of
the Shipwreck, he evidently alludes to his own attainments, in the following
lines: -
On him fair science dawned in happier
hour,
Awakening into bloom young fancy’s flower;
But soon adversity, with freezing blast,
The blossom withered and the dawn o’ercast;
Forlorn of heart, and, by severe decree,
Condemned, reluctant, to the faithless sea;
With long farewell, he left the laurel grove,
Where science and the tuneful sisters rove."
When very young, he was torn
from his self-pursued studies, and entered as an apprentice on board a
merchant vessel belonging to Leith. He afterwards became servant to Mr
Campbell, the author of Lexiphanes, who was purser of the ship to which he
belonged, and who, finding in him an aptitude for knowledge, kindly
undertook to give him some instructions in person. He subsequently became
second mate in the Britannia, a vessel in the Levant trade, which, on her
passage from Alexandria to Venice, was shipwrecked off Cape Colonna, on the
coast of Greece. Only three of the crew were saved, and Falconer was of the
number. The event furnished him with the material of a poem, by which it is
probable his name will be for ever remembered.
The poet was at this time
about eighteen years of age. In 1751, when two or three years older, he is
found residing in his native city, where he published his first known work,
a poem, "Sacred to the Memory of his Royal Highness, Frederick, Prince of
Wales." He is said to have followed up this effort by several minor pieces,
which he transmitted to the Gentleman’s Magazine. Mr Clarke, the editor of a
respectable edition of his poems, points out "The Chaplain’s Petition to the
Lieutenants in the Ward-room," the "Description of a Ninety Gun Ship," and
some lines "On the Uncommon Scarcity of Poetry," as among these fugitive
productions. Mr Clarke has likewise presented his readers with a whimsical
little poem, descriptive of the abode and sentiments of a midshipman, which
was one of the poet’s early productions; and offers some reasons for
supposing that he was the author of the popular song,
"Cease, rude Boreas."
Little is known of Falconer
during this period of his life, except that he must have been making
considerable additions to his stock of knowledge and ideas. His poem, "The
Shipwreck," was published in 1762, being dedicated to Edward, duke of York,
brother of George III. This composition displays a degree of polish, and an
array of classical allusions, which could only have been acquired by
extensive reading. It was at once placed in the first rank of descriptive
poetry, where it has ever since continued. "The distant ocean," says an
eminent critic, "and its grand phenomena, have employed the pens of the most
eminent poets, but they have generally produced an effect by indefinite
outlines and imaginary incidents. In Falconer, we have the painting of a
great artist, taken on the spot, with such minute fidelity, as well as
picturesque effect, that we are chained to the scene with all the feelings
of actual terror. In the use of imagery, Falconer displays original powers.
His sunset, midnight, morning, &c., are not such as have descended from poet
to poet. He beheld these objects under circumstances in which it is the lot
of few to be placed. His images, therefore, cannot be transferred or
borrowed; they have an appropriation which must not be disturbed, nor can we
trace them to any source but that of genuine poetry." Another writer
remarks, "The Shipwreck is didactic as well as descriptive, and may be
recommended to a young sailor, not only to excite his enthusiasm, but
improve his knowledge of the art. It is of inestimable value to this
country, since it contains within itself the rudiments of navigation if not
sufficient to form a complete seaman, it may certainly be considered as the
grammar of his professional science. I have heard many experienced officers
declare, that the rules and maxims delivered in this poem, for the conduct
of a ship in the most perilous emergency, form the best, indeed, the only
opinions which a skilful mariner should adopt." Against such a poem it forms
no proper objection, that much of the language, being technical, is only
perfectly understood by a class.
By his dedication, the poet
gained the notice and patronage of the duke of York, who, it will be
recollected, was himself a seaman. Almost immediately after the poem was
published, his royal highness induced Falconer to leave the merchant
service, and procured him the rank of a midshipman in Sir Edward Hawke’s
ship, the Royal George. In gratitude, Falconer wrote an "Ode on the duke of
York’s second departure from England as rear-admiral," which was published,
but displays a merit more commensurate with the unimportance of the subject
than the genius of the author. It is said that Falconer composed this poem
"during an occasional absence from his messmates, when he retired into a
small space formed between the cable tiers and the ship’s side."
In 1763, the war being
brought to a close, Falconer’s ship was paid off;—long before he had
completed that period of service which could have entitled him to promotion.
He then exchanged the military for the civil department of the naval
service, and became purser of the Glory frigate of 32 guns. Either in
the interval between the two services, or before his appointment as a
midshipman, he paid a visit to Scotland, and spent some time in the manse of
Gladsmuir, with Dr Robertson, the historian, who, we are told, was proud to
acknowledge the relationship that existed between him and this
self-instructed and ingenious man.
Soon after this period, Falconer
married a Miss Hicks, daughter of the Surgeon of Sheerness Yard. She has
been described as "a woman of cultivated mind, elegant in her person, and
sensible and agreeable in conversation." It is said that the match was
entered into against the will of her parents, who, looking only to the
external circumstances of the poet, thought her thrown away upon a poor
Scottish adventurer. Notwithstanding this painful circumstance, and, there
is reason to fear real poverty besides, the pair lived happily. Falconer
endeavoured to support himself by literature. He compiled a "Universal
Marine Dictionary," which, from its usefulness as a book of reference, soon
became generally used in the navy. Like most other literary Scotsmen of that
period, he was a zealous partisan of the Bute administration, and
endeavoured to defend it against the attacks of its jealous and illiberal
enemies. For this purpose, he published a satire, called "the Demagogue,"
which, was more particularly aimed at lord Chatham, Wilkes, and Churchill.
We have not learned that it was attended with any particular effect.
Falconer, at this time, lived in a manner at once economical, and highly
appropriate to his literary character. "When the Glory was laid in ordinary
at Chatham, commissioner Hanway, brother to the benevolent Jonas Hanway,
became delighted with the genius of its purser. The captain’s cabin was
ordered to be fitted up with a stove, and with every addition of comfort
that could be procured; in order that Falconer might thus be enabled to
enjoy his favourite propensity, without either molestation or expense."—Clark’s
Life of Falconer.
In 1769, the poet had removed
to London, and resided for some time in the former buildings of Somerset
house. From this place he dated the last edition of the Shipwreck published
in his own life-time. That Falconer must have possessed the personal
qualities of a man of the world, rather than those of an abstracted student
or child of the muses, seems to be proved by Mr Murray, the bookseller,
having proposed to take him into partnership. He is supposed to have been
only prevented from acceding to this proposal by receiving an appointment to
the pursership of the Aurora frigate, which was ordered to carry out to
India, Messrs Vansittart, Scrofton, and Forde, as supervisors of the affairs
of the company. He was also promised the office of private secretary to
those gentlemen, a situation from which his friends conceived hopes that he
might eventually obtain lasting advantages. It had been otherwise ordered.
The Aurora sailed from England on the 30th of September, 1769, and, after
touching at the Cape, was lost during the remainder of the passage, in a
manner which left no trace by which the cause of the calamity could be
discovered. It was conjectured that the vessel took fire at sea; but the
more probable supposition is that she foundered in the Mosambique channel.
The widow of Falconer (who eventually died at Bath,) resided for some years
afterwards in his apartments at Somerset house, partly supported by Mr
Miller, the bookseller, who, in consideration of the rapid sale of the
Marine Dictionary, generously bestowed upon her sums not stipulated for in
his contract with the author. Mr Moser, whom we have already quoted,
mentions that he once met her walking in the garden, near her lodging, and,
without knowing who she was, happened, in conversation, to express his
admiration of "the Shipwreck." She was instantly in tears. "She presented
me," says Mr M. "with a copy of the Shipwreck, and seemed much affected by
my commiseration of the misfortunes of a man, whose work appears in its
catastrophe prophetic." They had never had any children.
"In person," says Mr
Clarke, "Falconer was about five feet seven inches in height; of a thin
light make, with a dark weather-beaten complexion, and rather what is termed
hard-featured, being considerably marked with the small pox; his hair was of
a brownish hue. In point of address, his manner was blunt, awkward, and
forbidding; but he spoke with great fluency; and his simple yet impressive
diction was couched in words which reminded his hearers of the terseness of
Swift. Though he possessed a warm and friendly disposition, he was fond of
controversy, and inclined to satire. His observation was keen and rapid; his
criticisms on any inaccuracy of language or expression, were frequently
severe; yet this severity was always intended to create mirth, and not by
any means to show his own superiority, or to give the smallest offence. In
his natural temper, he was cheerful, and frequently used to amuse his
messmates by composing acrostics on their favourites, in which he
particularly excelled. As a professional man, he was a thorough seaman; and,
like most of that profession, was kind, generous, and benevolent."
The Poetical Works of
William Falconer
With a Memoir by the Rev. John Mitford (1895) (pdf) |
